[UA] Bizarre text distribution model

Wed Feb 18 16:12:06 PST 2004

Let me know when and where to send it and I'm in for $20, hell, I'm in for 
$25.
-- MacMonkey

>From: "Justin Hamilton" <justin at omaha.org>
>Reply-To: The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List <ua at lists.unknown-armies.com>
>To: "The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List" <ua at lists.unknown-armies.com>
>Subject: RE: [UA] Bizarre text distribution model
>Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 15:11:28 -0600
>
>I'm down to spend $20
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Steven and Karen Roman [mailto:woodworthroman at yahoo.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 3:06 PM
>To: The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [UA] Bizarre text distribution model
>
>
>
>Greg--
>
>
>
>I'm game.
>
>
>
>Here's how I look at it.  You mentioned a cap of $4000.00.  You likely
>have at least 200 fans out there each willing to part with $20.00.
>(Considering that most corebooks now cost *double* that amount, I think
>it's a viable goal.)
>
>
>
>I'd be willing to stake $20.00 on such an experiment.  Hell, I *have*
>done so in the past, placing a preorder for a game that ultimately never
>appeared.
>
>
>
>But frankly, I think that you could manage it, with your track record
>and quality work.
>
>
>
>My 2 bits.
>
>
>
>~Roman
>
>Greg Stolze <holycrow at mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>	This came to me the other night as I was contemplating the sorry
>state of
>	RPG distribution all up and down the tiers. Mixed in was stuff
>about
>	iTunes and Morpheus and how discouraging it is to sell your
>indie DIY stuff
>	as a .pdf and spot it on Kazaa a week after you release it.
>
>	How do you get around this? Writers are getting fucked
>(fiscal-wise) when
>	their work gets pirated and given away free. Ditto musicians,
>ditto film
>	makers. Most people are willing to pay something for their
>entertainment
>	but only (reasonably enough) if they can't easily get it for
>nothing.
>
>	It occurred to me that the solution is a ransom model.
>
>	For instance: I've been toying with REIGN, the fantasy version
>of the One
>	Roll Engine used for the the game GODLIKE. No publisher resides
>in the
>	overlap of "interest" and "ability to actually do anything about
>their
>	interest". I could sell it as a .pdf, with the attendant hassles
>of doing
>	e-commerce and getting art and layout and all that jazz. But
>that's a very
>	uncertain return on investment, especialy when the .pdf might
>just pop up
>	for free within days of release.
>
>	Instead, what if I do this? I set up a web site with a PayPal
>link and an
>	address where people can send their checks and cash. You can pay
>as much,
>	or as little, as you want, but until I hit my goal -- say, a
>price reached
>	by doing a word count and multiplying it by six cents -- nobody
>sees the
>	book. However, when I hit that goal, I release the whole text,
>to
>	everyone, for nothing.
>
>	This means that any publisher who wants can print and sell the
>book.
>	Anyone who wants it can download and print it. Kazaa? Fuck,
>Kazaa is now
>	working FOR ME, because everyone who steals it and likes it is
>more likely
>	to invest in my next work.
>
>	The advantages are pretty clear: No pirac y occurs until I'm
>paid in full,
>	after which I presumably don't give a fuck what people do, I've
>made my
>	nut. Lots of people see the game, with little hassle. Nobody
>pays more
>	than they feel it's worth.
>
>	The disadvantages are equally clear: I need a good reputation to
>make this
>	work, since that's what I'm trading on. If I set my goal at
>$4000 and
>	people only pre-pay $2000, what do I do then? If I release it
>anyway, the
>	system collapses because everyone with a grasp of economics
>figures, "I
>	shouldn't pay -- in a year, Stolze will cave and release it
>regardless".
>	If I don't release it, I've effectively stolen two grand from my
>closest
>	fans, which is not a route I want to go. Plus, I can never earn
>more than
>	what I get up front. (Not that long-term royalties have ever
>paid out for
>	me in gaming. But I suppose there's still time.)
>
>	What do you all think?
>
>	-G.
>
>	"These hardhat deconstruction-workers harass stories as if they
>were gals
>	passing on the sidewalk. They yell out stuff that's not only
>obnoxious,
>	but completely bizarre and impenetrable. It's like they yell:
>'Hey, check
>	out the pelvic bio-mechanics on that babe! What a set of
>hypertrophied
>	lactiferous tissues!'"
>	-Bruce Sterling
>
>
>http://www.whatgoesaround.org/GiveCart.cfm?page=list.cfm&UserID=1231&cat
>=&man=&m
>	em_ID=&afid=&criteria=3355&action=list&startrow=1&maxrows=10
>
>	www.waylay.com
>	www.thehungersite.com
>
>
>	_______________________________________________
>	UA mailing list
>	UA at lists.unknown-armies.com
>	http://lists.unknown-armies.com/mailman/listinfo/ua
>
>
>
>"In a utilitarian age, of all other times, it is a matter of grave
>importance that fairy tales should be respected."
>~Charles Dickens (1812-1870), British novelist
>
>"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the
>conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to m e than any
>talent for abstract, positive thinking."
>~Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Scientist
>
>   _____
>
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard
><http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mailtag_us/*http:/antispam.yahoo.com/tools?tool=
>1>  - Read only the mail you want.
>
>_______________________________________________
>UA mailing list
>UA at lists.unknown-armies.com
>http://lists.unknown-armies.com/mailman/listinfo/ua

_________________________________________________________________
Watch high-quality video with fast playback at MSN Video. Free! 
http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200365ave/direct/01/